VPN and Secure Remote Access

Overview and Key Features:

Members of the University community must secure their access to sensitive systems and protect themselves when connecting from remote locations, such as while traveling or working from home. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allow a user to route their computer’s internet traffic through a specific network while not directly connected to it. U of T offers two VPN tools for different purposes:

UTORvpn: A general remote access VPN that protects connections and allows users to connect to the campus wireless network remotely.
AdminVPN: Allows the owners of administrative and academic systems, as well as department administrators, to enforce strong authentication and secure connections.

Getting started

Download Cisco Secure Client (for desktop) or the Cisco Secure Client app (for Android/iOS). Cisco Secure Client was previously known as “Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client”.

Installation instructions for Secure Client can be found below.

Open Cisco Secure Client.
From the dropdown menu, enter or select “general.vpn.utoronto.ca” and click Connect.
An authentication window will open. Enter your UTORid and password, then cick OK.
Your computer will notify you that it is now connected to UTORvpn.

For detailed connection walkthroughs, see the Enterprise Service Centre (ESC) Knowledge Base:

Installing the VPN client

You must have an administrator account to install Cisco Secure Client on desktop. If you are using a U of T-managed workstation, contact your local IT help desk to have them install the software for you.

Installing on Windows

Navigate to your Downloads folder and run the Cisco Secure Client .msi
Agree to the licence agreement and the installation will complete.

Installing on Mac

Navigate to your Downloads folder
Double-click on the Cisco Secure Client .pkg file to start the installer.
Click Continue and accept the license agreement.
Uncheck all modules except VPN. Click Continue.

Installing on Linux (Ubuntu)

Navigate to your Downloads folder and extract the Cisco Secure Client gz file to a directory.
Navigate to the VPN directory under the extracted directory. Right-click and choose Open In Terminal.
Run the command: sudo bash vpn_install.sh. Enter your password when prompted.
Agree to the license agreement and the installation will complete.

Backup Services (UTORrecover)

Overview and Key Features:

UTORrecover is the professionally managed backup solution provided by the Hardware Infrastructure Group (HIG) in Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) in Information Technology Services (ITS).

Services

Institutional Backup and Restore

Features:

Daily Backups with Flexible Scheduling: UTORrecover performs daily backups scheduled to run between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. Full backups are done once per month with incremental backups thereafter. Other schedules are available upon request, providing flexibility to meet different backup needs
Wide Compatibility with Operating Systems: UTORrecover supports a variety of operating systems including Windows, Solaris, Linux, Netware, MacOS X, and many others. This broad compatibility ensures that most systems within the University can be backed up without issue.
Parallel Backups: The ability to back up multiple systems and multiple disks on a single system in parallel significantly reduces the overall time required to complete backups, enhancing efficiency and minimizing downtime
File, Directory, Partition, and Disk-Level Backups and Restores: UTORrecover supports comprehensive backup and restore options at various levels, including file, directory, partition, and disk. This flexibility allows for tailored backup strategies to meet specific data protection requirements
Local Administrator Recovery Initiation: Local administrators have the capability to initiate recoveries, providing autonomy and quick access to restore data when needed. This feature is crucial for timely data recovery and minimizing disruptions

Getting Started:

Interested in this service? Contact us: backups@eis.utoronto.ca

Backups via UTORrecover are available to any University of Toronto department or faculty. Other than the requirement that the client system be on the University’s network, there are virtually no restrictions on the type of hardware, operating system or total amount of data to be backed up.

Get Help:

ITS Private Cloud AI Assistant (https://gpt.eis.utoronto.ca)
Service Updates & Knowledgebase
UTORrecover Portal (On-campus or UTORvpn)

Contact: backups@eis.utoronto.ca

Endpoint Protection Service (SentinelOne)

Overview and Key Features:

Only IT administrators or divisional leads may request this service on behalf of their units. Individual users should contact their local IT administrator for help with service requests.

Advanced endpoint protection provides next-generation anti-virus protection for university-owned user devices and servers. It gives units delegated access to manage their endpoints, including visibility on security alerts generated by the endpoint solution. This service enables quick detection of and response to attacks and device compromises.

This service is institutionally funded and comes at no cost to units for level 1 support.

Getting Started:

Request Access to SentinelOne

Get Help:

To request support, as a unit administrator:

Please fill out an ESC ticket.

To request support, as an end user:

Please contact your local administrator.

Research Cyber Security Consultation

Overview and Key Features:

Research cyber security consultations are virtual (or, if required, in person) meetings between RISP and researchers, research-supporting staff, project teams or students. During a consultation, RISP will answer your security questions/concerns and provide you with current guidance based on the University of Toronto’s policies, standards, procedures and guidelines, as well as general cyber security best practices.

Getting Started:

Open an Enterprise Service Centre ticket to contact the Research Information Security Program.

Get Help:

Cyber and Data Security

Open an Enterprise Service Centre ticket to contact the Research Information Security Program.

Geopolitical and collaboration risk

Contact the Research Security team: research.security@utoronto.ca.

Resources

Privacy Impact Assessment

Overview and Key Features:

The Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) service allows users of information technology to assess the impacts and risks related to the use of personal information for staff, faculty and students. PIAs are done as part of vendor and application reviews to identify privacy and compliance risks. However, it is recommended that any changes to data flows to existing processes also undergo PIAs to avoid non-compliance with FIPPA requirements.

Getting Started:

For assessment inquiries, open a ticket on the Enterprise Service Centre (ESC).

Get Help:

Privacy policy guidance

Learn how to read a privacy policy.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FIPP) Office

Visit the FIPP Office website for information about privacy protection.

Contact the Security team with questions at security@utoronto.ca

Identity and Authentication Services

Overview and Key Features:

The University of Toronto’s central IT team manages and supports core Microsoft 365 infrastructure services to enable secure, seamless and efficient collaboration across the institution. As part of this service, we oversee daily operations related to identity management (Entra ID), email services (UTMail+) and authentication and access controls.

These services are foundational to supporting students, faculty and staff with access to Microsoft 365 applications including Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, and more.

Entra ID:

Identity lifecycle management for all users and groups
Microsoft 365 administrative role assignments and governance
Directory synchronization and federated identity configuration
Integration of third-party and in-house applications with the Microsoft 365 tenant

UTMail+ Email Services:

Management of mailbox operations for faculty, staff, and students
Email authentication configuration (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Handling eDiscovery, retention policies, and litigation hold
Anti-spam and anti-phishing rule management
Troubleshooting mailbox issues and delivery concerns

Authentication & Security Controls:

Management of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) policies
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) setup and role elevation
Conditional Access policies to protect University data and systems

Getting Started:

If you need assistance with any of the services listed above, please submit a ticket through the Enterprise Service Centre (ESC)

Ticket Review and Fulfillment
Our team will review the request, triage as needed and work with your department to address the issue or complete the requested task.
Follow-Up or Escalation
For complex or unresolved issues, further assistance will be coordinated with specialized support teams or vendor engagement if required.

Get Help:

If you’re looking to get started or have any questions or concerns, we recommend beginning by reviewing the relevant resources:

Password Management Service

1Password, Password

Overview and Key Features:

1Password is a cloud-based, cross-platform password management solution that allows users to organize and store all passwords in one secure place.

Password re-use (using the same password across multiple accounts) is a significant contributor to data breaches, as stolen credentials can be exploited to gain unauthorized access to other accounts. To address this vulnerability, the University of Toronto has acquired 5,000 1Password Business licenses for staff, faculty and librarians and six years of 1Password Families at no cost for students.

Getting Started:

To set up your 1Password account, visit:

Get Help:

For more information and FAQs, visit the password manager page.

Directory and Authentication Services

Overview and Key Features:

Enterprise Active Directory (EAD) is a platform that provides authorization, roles and group services. It is a central database containing users’ information that is used for authentication and authorization. EAD is integrated into almost all major computing systems in the University and provides access to services such as Office 365.

There is no specific front-end usage of EAD. What it does remains transparent while it authenticates and authorizes you to access services – no action is needed from users. For additional information about EAD, see the Enterprise Service Centre Knowledge Base.

Getting Started:

There are over 65 separate instances of active directories within U of T. If you are managing one of these instances and would like to integrate with EAD, please submit a ticket through the Enterprise Service Centre to discuss your application.

Get Help:

EAD is managed and maintained by the Identity and Access Management (IAM) team. To contact IAM about EAD, please create a ticket through the Enterprise Service Centre.

There is a mailing list for EAD, which is used to send messages about the bi-monthly update meeting. To subscribe, send an email containing “SUBSCRIBE ENTERPRISEAD-L” in the message body to listserv@listserv.utoronto.ca.

Incident Response

Overview and Key Features:

The incident response service monitors and responds to notifications of compromised U of T accounts, potentially compromised systems and phishing or other malicious emails to help protect the University’s community members, data and devices.

Depending on the scale of the information security incident, the Incident Response team can provide advice or full management of incidents from start to finish.

Getting Started:

Low severity incidents:

For low severity incidents, such as a compromised account or clicking a link in a phishing email, contact security.response@utoronto.ca.

Medium to critical severity incidents:

For information about medium to critical severity incidents, refer to the Incident Response Plan. If you are experiencing a medium to critical severity incident, complete the incident intake form.

Get Help:

Those involved in responding to information security incidents at the University should refer to the incident response tools and resources and the Incident Response Plan for guidance.

For incident response inquiries, contact security.response@utoronto.ca.

Information Risk Assessment

Overview and Key Features:

The information risk assessment is a systematic evaluation process designed to identify, analyze and manage potential risks associated with projects and vendors (applications, hardware, service providers or any other vendors where data collection, storage or transfer may be involved). Regular risk assessments allow organizations to stay ahead of potential vulnerabilities, ensuring that the mitigation, avoidance, acceptance or transfer of identified risks remains effective over time.

This assessment is a proactive measure to enhance information security practices and maintain a resilient and secure environment at U of T. It is a valuable tool for those involved in projects and vendor relationships, such as project teams, departments and vendors engaged with the University, and it promotes a culture of risk-aware decision-making and continuous improvement.

Getting Started:

Open a ticket for an assessment

Get Help:

For assessment inquiries, open a ticket on the Enterprise Service Centre.
Information Security Handbook

Explore the handbook to get actionable steps and helpful information for your cyber security questions and requirements. This handbook is a trusted resource created by the Information Security team for the U of T community.

Visit the Information Risk Assessment guide for more information.